The ring of fire
by LazuliWolf
Summary: Sent to find his partner-death reaper, Soul travels the world. Instinct brings him to feudal Japan and suddenly a soul starts bonding with his. His neverending search for her is cut short by her sudden death. Deciding to turn her into a reaper she wakes up but with no memory. Trying to remember who she is and learning new things is hard with evil threatening to strike at any moment
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new fic, yay...I've been absent for 2-3 years as a writer and now I'm back thanks to the challenge given by my friend. So I'm giving you a small prologue and the first chapter and some responses would be wonderful since I'd like to know if it's good and if I should continue ^^**

* * *

Prologue

All I know is I'm floating.

No sound. No feelings. No surroundings. Just comfortable cold. The dark is peaceful...tender...captivating.

Yet I'm floating towards something. I feel my soul being pulled towards something. Someone. And as much as I can't figure out what is happening-it doesn't even matter. Everything I know doesn't matter. This feeling of calm is everything I know now.

What's happening?

Where am I?

How did I get here?

Who am I?

The questions that come up don't need an answer. This comforting darkness I'm flowing through is telling me wordlessly to let go. It will be fine. Where I'm heading now is a good and a warm place. I can feel the warmth already spreading slowly and I find myself almost drifting into a peaceful slumber.

Such a wonderful thing can't be bad. A warm and comforting place like the one I'm going to must be wonderful indeed. This darkness can be trusted.

Right?

Suddenly my soul is stirred and the strings that are pulling me are breaking.

What?

I'm being pulled back to where I came from rapidly. I don't want to go back- I feel that in myself but I don't know the reason.

Why?

It's too late to think about the answer as I'm suddenly rushing to a bright light. Or is it darkness? It's swallowing me up too fast for me to notice that. I want to scream.

Suddenly I'm losing all of my senses and I know I'm gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the first one, lemme know your thoughts so I know if I should continue posting ^^'

* * *

He was dreaming again, he knew. And he was getting frustrated even in his sleep. He could see her and hear her loud and clear. But how in the world did this dream even happen was beyond him.

He was in his dream oasis, so to speak. Nothing weird about that. It was really just a dark room with deep blood red curtains draped across the walls so you couldn't really see the actual walls behind them. The room was lit by grey, forever burning candles that stood in eight tall, black, metal holders, vine-like design took from renaissance period. Each holder was made for three candles and they were scattered around the room without any particular order, but away from the center of the room. In one corner was a black grand piano and it's black bench covered with red leather as a seat, both hand engraved in abstract yet simple vine designs around their legs, with the piano also being engraved with a cursive letter S on the flat wood above the keys. In a corner behind, facing the piano, stood a chair made of dark, almost black, cherry red wood and dark, cold gray cover for the seat and a tall, rounded backrest. An unusually narrow, round coffee table, tall as the hand-rest of the chair, stood on the right side of it to match. On the opposite side of the furniture, on the place of the wall where the curtain was split in half, stood dark ebony double door.

But his usual surroundings were disturbed by a female figure in that room. That was beyond weird. 

And it annoyed him to no end. He liked the room to be only and exclusively his. And that was the case until she appeared a couple of nights ago. Now, she doesn't stay for a long period of time, but the fact that someone has managed to enter his mind was freaking him out. That, and the fact that he couldn't block them out for the third time. He was staring at her back as she looked around the room again before she turned to look at him. She gave him a small smile and bowed gracefully before noticing her attire and looking at it as if she never saw a dress in her life. A long-sleeved black gown with a boat-cut that was tight at the torso and puffy from the hips down enveloped her petite form well.

He sighed. She reacted the same way the last time they met. Surprised, astonished and almost freaked out for a split second. Like a simple dress is a miracle.

''What are you doing here?'' he almost hissed at her. Startled she looked at him straight in the eyes. Composing herself after a moment, she straightened her back before replying calmly.

''I can't really affect what I will dream about, can I?''

She was right and he sighed yet again. But before he could even reply she was walking towards the door behind her.

Jumping from the piano bench, as if he was burned, he rushed to her and grabbed her shoulder before she could reach the curved silver handle.

''Don't touch that door.'' he said warningly before walking back to the piano.

''Can't I get out?'' she followed him, watching him from behind cautiously. If the door behind her wasn't a way out then she didn't know how to leave. That was the only door she saw.

''Going through there will not lead you back to your body.''

''Then how do I...?"

''You just have to..." He stopped as he turned around to look at her only to see her gone. He sighed instead of finishing his sentence and closed his eyes.

Coming to his senses and feeling the rough ground beneath him, before even looking, he grunted and rolled on his back. He rubbed the sleep off his eyes and opened them, seeing at the tree branches and leaves above his head and the sky behind it just becoming its usual light blue hue. The sun barely began to rise. Covering his eyes with his forearm he sighed in frustration.

He couldn't remember her- again.

Her voice and her face became a blur in his memory. Pale hair and a petite frame was all he recalled. Cursing under his breath he got up in a sitting position and leaned against the tree behind him. Breathing deeply the cold air of the dawn he relaxed some more. The coolness of the earth he was sitting on was refreshing. The time of fall has begun, he noted. But soon his previous thoughts came back again and he frowned.

If it was any other situation he would've dismissed the girl and the recurring dreams perhaps. But this wasn't a normal dream. Hell, this was hardly a dream at all. She managed to get into his soul room while he was resting in it. First he would feel the tug on his soul and then, before he could block her, she was inside the room with him. And after he managed to get her out and wake up he couldn't remember her.

He knew for a fact that she was goddamn real and the only reason he couldn't envision her clearly in his mind was because they never met outside of that room.

And she almost opened the door, as if she wanted to die.

Before any other thought got into his mind, something in his pocket rang and he reached for it.

''Well good morning boy, how's Japan?'' Came the cheerful voice as a white, scull like mask appeared on what seemed to be a pocket mirror.

''Lord Death, hi." Soul replied straightening himself up "I've been here for only a few weeks, but it has been peaceful so far."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, how's your search going?" He asked stepping back from the mirror so Soul saw him better. Aside from the white mask and matching, oversized gloves, he was completely covered in black and surrounded by lovely blue skies, covered with fluffy white clouds, a contrast to his attire.

"That's...well, nothing much has happened. No one came around that would be fit for the job. I usually see old farmers and rarely a samurai or two, but not one of them seemed strong enough to become my partner." The boy replied.

"Remember Soul, don't judge the book by its covers. You'd be surprised to know how much spiritual power have old people for example. Yes, physical strength is needed, but it's not all about the muscles. You know how many girls we have reaping souls and fighting demons?"

"Yes Death, I understand." Soul smiled remembering his comrades before narrowing his eyes "I have one question though."

"I'm listening. Do you need some advice on females?" The masked man chipped casually.

"No." Came a quick reply, but then he paused "Actually, it is about a girl. This weird thing started happening three nights ago and I'm just wondering, is it possible for someone to enter my soul room?"

"Wait, a girl entered your soul room?" The happy voice of Lord Death was suddenly replaced with a more serious one.

"Well, yeah. When I'm inside of it, relaxing or sleeping, I feel her soul tug on mine for a second and before I realize she is inside. But I've never met her, so I don't remember her well after the dream ends. I've just met her for the third time minutes before you called. What does this mean?"

"Well, Soul boy, it means that the girl has a rather strong soul and that it resonates well with yours. You might be on a right track here you know, listen to your instincts a bit!" He waved dramatically his comically large, gloved, white finger to the mirror and Soul sighed.

"So you think I should, what, find her?"

"Exactly."

"But where do I search?!" the boy raised his voice "I can't feel her soul once I wake up. I don't have Soul Perception."

"As I said- instinct. You don't need to see her soul to know where it is. If she is strong enough to get into your soul room you'll feel her soul near anyway." Lord's cheerful voice came back "Also it might move you to search faster. As a scythe you are you need a wielder, Soul. You've done a remarkable job on your own and with temporary partners, but the demon that's coming requires your own technician so that you can achieve your full potential. And they won't wait for you to think and pick around, and debate with yourself if someone is a right choice or not. You need to trust your guts."  
"I understand." the boy sighed.  
"So, hurry up and be careful. Good luck Soul."  
"Thank you, Lord Death."

Just a second later, Soul could see his own reflection again in the mirror. His eyes scanned his unruly white hair before he ran his fingers through it trying to fix it and get a few strands of grass out of it. Blood red eyes looked back at him and he sighed before putting the mirror back into the pocket of his hakama.  
Yes, since he was in Japan now he had to wear appropriate clothing, just in case someone saw him. So he got up, fixed his black hakama, kosode and haori and decided to continue his journey. Yeah, like clothing would save him from people freaking out at the sight of his white hair, red eyes and sharp, demon like teeth. When a group of children in China saw him he had a whole city to hide from- and even though he could become invisible, and usually is, it's a real pain in the ass to have to cross the whole freaking China and wait for some extra time for people to discard the case as an active imagination of kids before appearing again. That's when the thought of dying his hair black occurred to him. But after he realized how bad the smell of the process was he just decided that he will stay invisible until he is sure he found a potential meister to wield him as a Death Scythe. But, now he needed a master as soon as possible.

He took in the wooded surroundings as he started walking. What merely was dawn when he woke up turned into a bright morning. The forest he was walking through receded as he progressed further down the path. He must be close to a secluded village or something similar since the road itself didn't seem like a lot of people took this route.  
Moments later he felt a presence. Glancing to his left he noticed an orb floating up to him, not visible to humans. A glowing soul, lost on it's way. Lifting his palm up the purple orb landed on it.  
"Well someone died in an early morning." He thought morbidly.  
Closing eyes he analyzed it. A man in his thirties. He died an hour ago or so. A relatively pure soul. Strong and a caring nature. Why a sudden death tho, he didn't know. Souls like his were not ready for the afterlife. Their deaths weren't natural. That's the reason they came up to him anyway- they didn't know what happened and needed a safe guide to the Death Realm. If the death were to occur as normal the soul would've gone on it's own.  
Picking it up and passing a wave of warmth to the orb he swallowed it. Closing his eyes for a moment he morbidly enjoyed the sweet taste of it before he guided the soul to his soul room and through the dark ebony door in there- the door to the Death Realm. Coming back to his senses after what seemed like minutes, but only being seconds, he continued his journey.

So he should find that girl. Okay, no biggie. What for? No idea. Still, he should check up on her since what happened is quite unusual, just in case she is potentially dangerous. She should be near since she can reach for his soul, right? Thinking about it, the tug on his soul every time she tried to break into the room was getting stronger every time. He could feel her gentle orange orb sending peaceful vibes through his body and soul and he could not help it but letting her in even if for a second before he realized what he did.  
It was her fault for being like that and getting to him. How did she do that? Was she a witch or a demon or something similar? But then again he could make a difference between a dangerous and a safe soul. And she certainly was not malicious. She seemed a bit stubborn and persistent, but gentle. Her soul harmony and spirituality must be on a higher level, even though her soul seemed so young, he concluded. 

The first time they met he was already in the room, relaxing as he played the piano. It was his second week upon arriving to Japan and he traveled quite a lot. Suddenly he felt a wave of energy, making his body shudder from a feeling he couldn't figure out, and she floated in and around him in the form of a soul. At first he thought she was a dead one but then again he had to eat her soul in order for her to get here and he didn't recall doing that. So as he stood there in shock, trying to figure out what happened, she disappeared. He didn't even have the time to react. When he woke up he was torn between thinking he was dreaming it and not really knowing what else to think. 

Second time he felt the tugging on his soul again was four days later in his sleep. He felt a familiar energy invading his own wavelength and a shiver ran down his spine. In a lucid state of that dreamless sleep, his mind was subconsciously aware of the intruder and he suddenly stirred awake, sitting on a chair in the soul room. It's an understatement to say that he was surprised when instead of a floating orange orb he saw a girl. Now he was sure he wasn't only imagining. Light hair, asian features, slim figure and fair skin being a contrast to a simple black dress she wore. He seemed fascinated by her attire before she noticed him and bowed courtly. "I remember this" he heard her whisper as she rose up and looked around. So she's actually Japanese, he figured. Her eyes stayed on his piano for a few moments before she talked.

"You played music on that, didn't you?"

"The piano?" He asked her back, like he didn't have other questions to ask instead. He watched her nod before she looked around again and sighed in content. "It's nice here." She whispered "Nothing hurts."

"Was she hurt?" He wondered in his mind, but before he could voice the question she disappeared again.

And the third time was just after one non-invading night or this morning to be precise. And the tug on his soul was short yet intense. He felt like a lightning struck him and before he knew it she was in the soul room, curiously looking around again.

Yes, he had to find her, he decided. Average souls couldn't go and connect with others. Average souls couldn't see and connect to a death reaper unless they were dead for Death's sake!

Looking up he saw a group of three samurai warriors walking his way, smiling to each other and commenting about something he wasn't really interested in. They couldn't see him of course, but seeing them coming from the direction he was heading to he mentally confirmed that he indeed was heading to a village of some sort. He briefly heard them talking about people they met that morning and a man that they had to kill because he couldn't pay the tax. Soul sighed, realizing that the man they killed was the one that he sent off to the Death Realm that morning. Merchants were on the lowest branch, barely treated like humans here by the people of upper class, and the poor man was one of them. Oh well, that's how the world worked here.

Passing them he closed his eyes focusing on feeling energy around him, pushing his senses as far as he could. He might not feel or see souls of the living like some people that served Lord Death could, but over the centuries he learned to feel the energy around him and distinguish humans, demons, animals and other beings. It was quite helpful with orientation too. So he focused and he could feel the instinct pulling him forward. A small village just a few hours away. He could feel all the different human energies coming from people in it and he scanned through them quickly. As he shuffled he felt a familiar shudder on his wavelength for a split second before he lost it again. He snapped his eyes wide open.

She was there.

It had to be her, he was sure, even if he barely felt her life energy. His legs started moving again, picking up the pace slowly as he went until he was almost running. He felt the need to see her as soon as possible. Who was she? Or what? How did she managed to do what she did? So many questions were running through his mind as he walked through the woods swiftly, not breaking a sweat because he built up his stamina through the centuries.  
Soul frowned in frustration. He couldn't decipher what was he feeling or what he even wanted. He was somewhere in between anxious, excited, angry and annoyed. And frustrated. Mostly frustrated. He didn't know what really to expect, and he could only hope that he will find her- that she isn't a traveler or something similar.

The green scenery around him went by quickly and he didn't even notice it. In a couple of hours the trees diminished and he was standing on a hill overlooking a valley and a small town in it. He stood there for a couple of minutes feeling the midday sun warming him up. A gentle breeze rustled his hair as he watched the town and the people in it. Closing his red eyes, he focused.

He could feel all the various energies. Strong, weak, young, old...their emotions...it was overwhelming. The sudden wave of them all made him dizzy. Frowning, he abruptly stopped and opened his eyes. Well that method couldn't be used. The pressure is overwhelming now that the town is full of life. She was down there for sure, but now he just had to find her exact location.

Soon he was walking through the streets of the town, scanning through the people and the faces, trying to find a particular one. How hard could it be to find a light haired girl among the black haired Japanese people?

Well it turned out it was a lot harder than he thought. It wasn't long before he decided to try another method and jumped on the first rooftop he noticed looking up. The crowd didn't help in finding the girl. Looking at the people from above, he started walking, jumping from roof to roof. Afternoon was slowly passing and he didn't make any progress.

He sighed as he sat and crossed his legs, biting into an apple he managed to steal along the way. Not only he didn't find the girl, he also couldn't sense anyone that he could partner up with. But, then again he couldn't entirely be sure about that either. There wasn't a way to figure that out by a specific trait in a person. He had to go with his intuition on that one too. Lord Death had told him that he will know who it is once he sees them and to follow his guts. He always said that no matter what. How to find his partner? Follow your guts. How to find a demon soul or a witch? Follow your guts. Choose what to eat from meals you never herd of? Follow your guts.

Though he had a point, Soul couldn't help but wish that for something in his life he had a straightforward signal to pick something. Why couldn't a person he should partner up with just glow or something. Or have a goddamn exclamation mark above their head.

Well, he had the whole day to look around the town. If that doesn't work out he will have to wait the night, when the town is asleep and when the souls of people are calm and unmoving, to try and sense her or possibly find her in his sleep. Or wait for her to find him maybe.  
"I have a feeling I'll be searching for a while for her." He thought as he stood up, ready to continue the walk around the town. He threw what was left of the apple to his right, where below the roof was an alley that no one will pay attention to. As he was about to jump to the roof across the street he heard a grunt of pain.  
"What the hell, an apple just hit me! Someone is there." He heard a guy yell from the alley. "Leave it, let's go"

"So I actually managed to hit someone" Soul whispered to himself "I swear, If I wanted to hit someone I would've missed"

Looking down, he saw two young men leave the alley, almost running down the main street. He shook his head and crouched, ready to jump, when another figure ran out, stopping him for a second in his tracks. Looking down again he saw a girl and he froze in place.

Ash blonde hair.

The world around him almost slowed down as she looked around and then up. She was hugging a bag to her chest, he noticed. Then her bright green eyes met his and he was taken aback. Her eyes stared right into his before they moved left and right. For a split second he thought she could see him.

Biting her lip she looked back down the road the two guys earlier went. Mentally thanking whoever threw the apple, with purpose of saving her from the two or not, she took off running in the opposite direction. She didn't want to run in someone again, and only wanted to get safely to her small house. But no matter how fast she ran, or where she turned, she could almost swear that someone was following her. Still, no matter where she looked- up, behind, left or right- no one was there to be seen. Soon she reached her house on the border of the village. Looking around one last time she closed the door.

Not far away from her house stood a white haired boy, smirking.  
"Gotcha."


End file.
